Heart's Song Koruta
by Eloradenin of the Wolves
Summary: A reuninon on her 16th birthday causes Chihiro to become involoved in a race against time. Can her love for Haku help her stop him from vanishing. Story better than Summary implies
1. Chapter 1

Preface

Chihiro new she was dreaming because she was looking at a 5 year old version of herself. The child was sitting on a rock that hung over a flowing river and kicking her little pink shoes back and forth over the foaming water. After watching the scene for awhile Chihiro realized why the dream seemed familiar. It was a memory. A very precise memory of the day she had fallen into the Kohaku River. Her heart started beating faster as she whispered the name. She watched herself, the happy little child oblivious to what was about to happen, as one of the little pink shoes went flying off of her foot and landed with a tiny splash in the river. Her 5 year old self gave a shout of dismay and scrambled off the rock to chase the escaping shoe. When she came to a log over the river she scrambled up it and hung over the water trying to grab the shoe's strap as it floated by. Chihiro shouted to the girl but her voice was nonexistent in the dream. The child overextended and toppled head first into the current. Chihiro ran to the river and tried to follow the girl's path through the water. Her parents seemed to have realized what had happened and they were racing after her. The little shoe had gotten caught on a dangling branch and her father pulled it off gently. He stood looking at it in shock but Chihiro wasn't going to wait, she was running with all her might. Strange that she already knew what happened but was still fearful for the child's life. She rounded a bend and stopped in shock. This she hadn't expected. He was carrying her. She mouthed his name, _Haku_. The river spirit looked only slightly younger than she remembered but it was definitely him. The boy she had officially met 6 years ago on her accidental imprisonment in the spirit world. He was cradling the unconscious 5 year old in his arms and as she watched he whispered something in her ear before gently laying her on the shore and disappearing back into the water just as her parents arrived and roused her. Chihiro stared after him in the river hoping maybe he would appear again, but she didn't even see a glimmer of movement apart from the water which continued to flow as if nothing had happened. An exclamation from her parents made Chihiro look back at the family and she was surprised to see the little girl standing by the water waving her arms and shouting.

"Thank you Kohaku River Spirit for saving my life! My name's Chihiro! I hope we meet again someday!"

Chihiro couldn't help but start laughing like her parents were doing as they scooped the little girl up and walked away from the river back along the trail to the town. Chihiro was going to follow but then a flicker of movement at the edge of her vision caught her attention and she whirled to see Haku sitting on a rock right beside her.

"Goodbye Chihiro." He whispered, "I won't forget you, my Koru-ta."

Chihiro caught her breath at his nearness and would have reached out to touch him but the dream was starting to fade taking him with it.

"No" she moaned trying to hold onto it. "No"

But she couldn't stop the memory from fading around her anymore than she could stop the river from carrying her along its way 11 years ago.

My first fanfic on here so please rate and review


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

A light wind blew through the window of Chihiro's window causing her to look up from finishing her homework hurriedly. Thankfully her birthday had fallen on a Saturday this year so she didn't have to worry about school but her father had told her that she had to at least get most of her homework done before she went out with her friends for the day. She sighed and smiled at the breeze enjoying the way it seemed to play with her hair. Today it seemed to be playing very freely with her hair. It almost seemed like it was trying to pull her hair out of its customary ponytail, but there was no way that it could do that. Finally she couldn't stand it anymore when the wind blew her ponytail over her head and into her eyes while she was trying to concentrate on a particularly difficult math problem; she closed her window sharply.

At that moment her cell phone rang and she picked it up, "Hello?"

"Hi Chihiro where are you?" her best friend Kairi asked impatiently through the phone.

"Dad's making me get homework done before I can go out."

"Homework! But it's your birthday!" Kairi gasped, "Besides you were supposed to be here 15 minutes ago and they do like you to not keep people waiting."

"Yeah I know." Chihiro sighed, "Maybe I can finish this problem and then ask if I can go."

"All right. Beg if you have to. Bye." Kairi hung up.

Chihiro sighed again and got to work on the problem. She tried to concentrate but her imagination seemed to be playing tricks on her cause she could have sworn that there was a light breeze still playing with her hair even though the window was firmly shut. After a few moments she had finally finished the problem and headed downstairs to, as Kairi had put it, beg.

"Dad I finished a good amount of homework can I go now?" she asked her father who was sitting on the couch in the living room, "I was supposed to meet Kairi and Miki 20 minutes ago."

Her father looked up and was about to ask how much she still had when her mother popped her head in from the kitchen.

"Yeah go have fun but just be back in time for your birthday dinner at 6." She smiled at her only daughter.

Chihiro smiled and dashed out the door before her father could try and protest again.

Had she been looking Chihiro might have seen the little bird looking discouraged, sitting in the tree by her window with an envelope in its mouth. It flapped its wings and a little breeze floated out of them and trailed after her, playing with hair again just like it had in her room.

(short I know but I couldn't think of more to write at the moment, R&R please)


	3. Chapter 3

Ch.2

"Come on Chihiro keep up or we'll be even later." Kairi chided running along the road ahead towards the restraint at the end where Miki, Alto, and Anri were waiting for them.

"Let me catch my breath." Chihiro panted stopping in front of a building and gulping in long breaths of air.

Kairi groaned and stopped as well to wait for her best friend to recover.

Chihiro took the opportunity to look more closely at the building. The sign above it read Koru-ta Tea Shop Opening Soon. Kairi followed her gaze and her eyes brightened.

"So that's what they turned the old dojo into. It looks like it's going to be a nice tea shop too. Lucky that it's going to be so nearby huh Chihiro?"

But Chihiro wasn't paying her friend the least bit of attention. Instead her eyes remained fixed on the name of the shop, Koru-ta.

_Koru-ta, Koru-ta?_

The name was familiar to her but she couldn't pinpoint from where. Koru-ta? What did it mean?

"Hey Chihiro? Earth to Chihiro…Hey snap out of it!" Kairi laughed grabbing her friends arm and dragging her away from the building, "Now we're really going to be late."

Chihiro finally managed to break her gaze away from the name and followed Kairi down the road towards the restaurant.

()

The little bird had followed the girl all the way from the house and to the tea shop but now she had been forced to perch on a branch outside the restraint and simply wait until the girl came back out. How long that would be she had no idea but she had to deliver the letter by the end of the day or it would be too late. Already her brother had begun to forget certain things; it would be only a matter of time until his memory was completely blank. After that, she shuddered, she didn't want t think about what came after that.

To keep her mind off of those horrible images she studied the buildings around the restaurant. They should all have just been normal human buildings but, for some reason, the tea shop emitted a power akin to the bathhouse she had visited only once. The little bird flew closer to the building, even daring to land in a tree in the little back courtyard. It was a rock garden with a few bonsai and sakura trees scattered throughout it. Her particular tree overlooked a long snaking trail of rocks lined up in a ditch that wound its way around the entire garden. This puzzled the little bird immensely. Why was what appeared to be a thin rock path, in the bottom of a plain ditch?

"Oh my I wasn't expecting to get such special visitors for awhile." A calm voice spoke from nearby.

Startled the little bird looked over towards the source of the voice and found her. A middle aged woman with dark brownish black hair sat on her knees before the sliding door into the shop. The woman wore a full length kimono of sea blue silk and her hair was done up in a loose bun with glass chopsticks. The little bird marveled at her beauty until the woman spoke again.

"Come now little bird. Come over here and show me your chosen self."

The little bird was even more startled. How could the woman have known what she was? Still her curiosity won out in the end and the little bird found herself flying over to perch on the woman's hand, careful not to lose the letter. The woman smiled at her and laughed softly.

"Surely your chosen form is not this bird. I can sense that you are powerful and lovelier than a delicate little bird. Come now let me see yourself."

The little bird blushed at the complement and hopped off the woman's finger to land on the boarded floor. Carefully, she placed the envelope before her and let her form slip and elongate till she stood before the woman in her human form. Her long green hair dangled over her shoulders and her deep brown eyes gazed at the woman with a wisdom that defied her apparent age. The woman smiled and bowed her head in respect and understanding.

"Your slender form and sweeping hair give true credit to the tree from which you came. I welcome you to my humble tea shop Willow Spirit." She paused a second and then spoke again, "May I know your true name?"

The girl smiled.

"Alytho. Alytho Willow."

"Alytho." The woman breathed, "Such a lovely name for a lovely spirit. I am Kimiko. Kimiko Kyryo."

Alytho nodded smiling.

Kimiko looked at the girl a bit more before she broke the silence again.

"Might I ask Alytho, what a willow spirit is doing so far away from her tree."

Alytho sighed sadly and picked up the letter at her feet.

"I must deliver this letter to someone before midnight."

Kimiko looked curious.

"What for?"

Alytho sighed again.

"My brother requested it. I don't even know what it contains or why the recipient is a 16 year old girl."

"But you wish to know." Kimiko nodded understandingly, "This is the reason you asked to deliver it."

Alytho nodded.

"Yes."

Kimiko nodded and smiled.

"Is the girl by any chance the brown haired, freckled child that stopped and stared at the shop for a bit? The one her friend called Chihiro?"

Alytho nodded in surprise.

"Yes she is. You were watching her?"

"Yes" Kimiko smiled, "I sensed spirit presence around her. Though it is very faint I was still drawn to it. I was curious, like you, as to why a normal girl had been touched by spirits."

Alytho was impressed.

"You can sense spirit presence? Even if it's faded over years?"

Kimiko nodded calmly but she didn't say anything further on the subject and Alytho had no choice but to fall silent and wait for her strange new friend to explain further. She hoped that Kimiko would before Chihiro emerged from the restaurant.


	4. Chapter 4

"Come on Chihiro we went to the trouble of ordering you a cake in the shape of a dragon, since you seem to be obsessed with them so much. The least you could do is eat one piece!" Kairi complained shoving the plate of cake under Chihiro's nose.

But Chihiro had slowly been feeling more distant from her friends as the night wore on and she couldn't figure out why. The cake had nearly been the breaking point. Why had they had to make the dragon on it look so much like him? She blinked and felt moisture left on her lashes.

"Chihiro did we do something wrong?" Anri asked gently touching her shoulder.

Chihiro looked into his face and smiled.

"No everything is just perfect I'm just not feeling very well I guess."

"Oh no do you think you had better go home?" Miki asked worriedly.

Chihiro sighed biting her lip.

"Maybe. I'm not sure though."

"In that case we'll walk you home." Alto smiled standing up but Chihiro shook her head.

"No really I actually think I just need some fresh air." She smiled standing up herself and slipping out of the booth, "I'll be back in a bit."

Her friends looked after her in confusion and apprehension. Chihiro had been known to disappear for hours despite her assurances that she would only be gone for minutes. That was just the way she was, forgetful, a bit clumsy, and very creative with her imagination. After all, someone who drew fantastical worlds as good as she did, had to have a creative mind.

Chihiro walked back in the direction of her house but that was not her destination. Instead her feet were carrying her back to the un-open tea shop. Her steps were halted by a voice that spoke from the front porch of the shop forcing her to look up.

"Ah you see my dear, I told you she would be coming back soon. Now you may give her the letter."

Chihiro gaped at the two women on the porch. The speaker was a woman who seemed to look in her mid 20s but carried herself in a manner that spoke of years of wisdom and experience. The younger woman beside her appeared to be actually no older than 18 but she too had the presence of a woman beyond her apparent years.

Chihiro bowed to them respectfully.

"I'm sorry to intrude but I passed by this Tea Shop earlier without having enough time to stop and examine it properly so I just wanted to get a better look. I'm really sorry for disturbing you."

"My dear girl you aren't disturbing us at all." The woman smiled laughing softly, "In fact young Alytho hear has something to deliver to you."

Chihiro was surprised and curious. She approached the two women slowly but at a smile of encouragement from the older one her feet carried her more quickly. Soon she was standing before the younger woman who had pulled out what appeared to be a letter.

"My brother requested I give this to you." Alytho said simply pressing the letter into Chihiro's hands with a bit too much force.

Chihiro stepped back a bit and glanced down at the envelope in her hands. Her name was written on the front in an elegant hand she didn't recognize. After examining it closer she realized the script seemed to flow across the envelope like small curling waves.

"Who is this from again?' she breathed looking back at Alytho.

"My brother." Alytho replied impatiently, "Someone you're close to. Just open it already and you'll find out."

Chihiro was still unsure of whom the sender could be but curiosity and hope made her break open the seal tentatively and pull out the slip of paper inside.

The scrip on the page almost seemed to travel across it like a gentle river and Chihiro was almost too mesmerized by it to actually start reading. But eventually a definitive cough from Alytho broke her from the majesty and she began to read.

Chihiro,

Sorry I couldn't deliver this letter in person but I hope that you can understand why. First off though I want to wish you happy birthday. Yes I'm aware that it's your birthday (if Alytho was successful in delivering this letter on time that is). We have spirits watching over you all the time so I know a good deal more about you than I was aware of the last time we saw each other. But that was 6 years ago now so I'm not surprised that you've changed as you've grown up. But I'm getting a bit off subject now. Chihiro there's something that I need you to do for me but I think that it would be better to explain this to you in person. I know that I told you to never look back or come back to the spirit world but I think that the abandoned train station leading to the spirit world should be a safe enough compromise. Tell Alytho to take you there before midnight. She doesn't know anything about this so you'll have to tell her that I requested it. She may take some time convincing but I think that she should see reason before too long and be able to get you here before midnight. If you arrive after that…you might actually understand what I need to tell you a bit easier but…I don't want you to experience that yet. I hope to see you soon and am glad that you have been doing really well these 6 years since your return to the human world.

Haku

Chihiro reread the signature over and over just to convince herself that it really said his name.

Alytho had been watching her the entire time she had been reading the letter and now she was terribly impatient.

"Well what does he say?" She snapped trying to snatch the letter from Chihiro who stepped back quickly to keep it from her reach.

"Your brother is Haku?" Chihiro breathed her hands shaking on the letter.

"Yeah so what? What are you to him anyway?"

Chihiro shook her head uncertain of how to answer.

"I don't know." She whispered at last staring back at the letter, "Someone important I think."

Alytho snorted.

"What makes you think that?"

Chihiro looked back at her.

"Because he wants to meet me tonight before midnight, at the abandoned train station. You're supposed to take me there."

Alytho's eyes flashed in surprise and annoyance.

"Oh really? And why does he think I would do that?"

Chihiro shook her head.

"I don't know. He said I would probably have to convince you but that you would come around in time."

Alytho continued to glare at Chihiro but after a few moments she sighed.

"If he asked for it I suppose there's nothing else for me to do but do what he said."

She approached Chihiro and held out her hand.

"You're familiar with spirit flying I presume. My brother does enjoy employing it a lot after all."

Chihiro blinked tentatively slipping her hand into the other girl's.

"Uh I'm not sure what…" but she had no time to finish her sentence because they were instantly flying near the ground at an incredible speed.

_So that's what it's called _Chihiro managed to think before her mind was completely caught up in the dizzying experience.

(anyone that's interested in reading the letter in the actual intended script the name is Freestyle Script)


End file.
